>>3207414It started as a way to connect with the outdoors many years ago and grew from there. Photography has been by my side in nearly all of my best life experiences and firsts. My first time taking a long road trip was because of photography, then my first time backpacking as well. Backpacking is such an incredible experience and I'm glad photography encouraged me to get into it. You get to see rarely seen places and experience them in either complete or relative solitude.
Part of what I like about it is that mastering photography is an unreachable goal and always gives you something to grow towards and better yourself and skills for. I will never create the perfect image and I will never see the most amazing place, those things do not exist in any objective terms so I must keep going forward enjoying every step, hurdle, and challenge.
As far as the how? It took years to build my life to where I could control my experiences for the most part. If your goal is always to do better and travel more you'll find ways to make it happen.
>>3207446I've always enjoyed the most simple of images like that one, and standing on the edge of a large body of water with seemingly no horizon was really surreal. I'll post an even older one from the plains that I always thought just worked.
>>3207507I don't quite follow you, but I will agree that it always takes some level of whoring yourself out to make it as a photographer - or most businesses really. I have always enjoyed /p/'s criticism because it's real, otherwise I woudln't be here. It really does help with essentially a yes or no for each image, polling a variety of people with different tastes who all don't care about how they come across. From watching other people's threads it didn't take long to learn that you can't respond to shitposts or trolls, and sadly you can't even joke very much because there are too many different styles of humor and you're bound to make someone go sour.
